Personality Study Guide

1. Five-Factor Personality (0penness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism)-

Examples in The Dark Knight

A. Extraversion

i. Warm, gregarious, assertive, active, excitement seeking, dominant, optimistic, ambitious

ii. Reacts less to sensory stimuli

iii. Advantages: higher status, rated as more popular and physically attractive, more positive
emotions.

iv. Disadvantage: argumentative, need to be in control, poor time management. Sensitive to

rewards and positive emotions.

v. High = sociable/lively Low = socially reserved

B. Neuroticism

i. Emotional instability, negative emotionality

ii. Hostile, self-conscious, impulsive. Ineffective problem solving; strong negative reactions to
stress. Sensitive to social threats, negatively correlated with happiness, well-being, and physical
health.

iii. High = relaxed/ even-keeled Low = Tense/moody

C. Conscientiousness

i. Competent, dutiful, achievement striving, self-disciplined

ii. High = responsible/careful Low = irresponsible/careless

D. Agreeableness

i. Conformity, friendly compliance, likeability, warmth, love

ii. Women > men

iii. High = gets along with others Low = critical, analytical, tough

E. Openness to Experience

i. Viewed by others as creative, imaginative, artistic, open-minded, and clever

ii. High = welcomes new ideas/experiences Low = follows rules/avoids new experiences

2. Jung Psyche (ego, personal unconscious, collective unconscious)

A. Ego

i. The conscious part of personality and embodies the sense of self. Similar to Freuds concept of
Ego.

B. Personal unconscious

i. The part of the unconscious mind containing an individuals thoughts and feelings

C. Collective unconscious
 i. The part of the unconscious that is inherited and common to all members of a species.

ii. Contains some contents and modes of behavior that are identical in all human beings, and thus
constitutes a common psychic substrate of a universal nature which is present in every
individual

3. Jung archetypes (hero, mentor, anima, animus, shadow, trickster)

A. Hero/Heroine (Batman)

i. The character who in the face of danger and adversity or from a position of weakness, displays
courage and the will for self-sacrifice. Began as exemplifying courage/prowess later shifted to
demonstrate good morality.

B. Mentor (Alfred)

i. This character is represented as a kind and wise, older father-type figure who uses personal
knowledge of people and the world to help tell stories and offer guidance.

C. Anima (Rachel)

i. For a male, it is a character who the male personality finds which expresses his inner feminine
personality. A rose, as a mythical symbol that represents the self, plays an important role as a
trigger that leads to anima.

D. Animus

i. For a female, it is the character who the female personality finds which expresses her inner
male personality.

E. Shadow (Batman)

i. Everyone has two selves the conscious self and the unconscious self, the shadow is the
unconscious self. It is the unknown dark side of our personality. It is not always evil or bad, it is
the part of ourselves we deny or ignore for whatever reason-upbringing, fear of what it means
about us, etc.

F. Trickster (Joker)

i. This character embodies the energy of mischief and the desire for change. They cut down big
egos and provide comic relief that eases tension and brings the Hero down to earth. They serve
to highlight the hypocrisy and making fun of the status quo to hide his true motives.

4. Heros departure, Heros initiation, Heros return

A. Heros departure

i. The heros call to adventure, somewhat immature and needs to gain wisdom along the way.

ii. In the Dark Knight, this is when Joker does not like what Harvey Dent is doing to Gotham and
purposely creates trouble in order for Batman to show up.

B. Heros initiation

i. The confrontation or the main part of the story

ii. In the Dark Knight, Batman sees Dents work in Gotham and decides to hang up his cape and
try to live a normal life as Bruce Wayne. However, the Joker crashes a party kills city officials
and he is left with no choice but to stop Joker.
C. Heros return

i. The final threshold to accomplish the task and bring the hero home

ii. In the Dark Knight, Batmans sacrifice has bought Gotham that hard-earned peace and he can
vanish into the night knowing that the mob is safely behind bars. Batman cannot be given the
credit for cleaning up Gotham and must take the heat for the murders because people need
believe in the governments ability to protect. Sometimes people need more than they truth-
they need faith.